As I foresaw, one of the advantages of having a media conference narrative of "leader on last legs", is that when the leader gives a half-way decent speech at the end, the media narrative then, with typical hysteria, turns turtle and majors on "leader rises from dead".
But the media coverage is not all glowing and Ming's speech far exceeded the description "half-way decent".
I always look forward to immersing myself in wall-to-wall media coverage of the LibDems. I was not disappointed as I sat down to the teatime news programmes yesterday. ITV started their coverage of Ming's speech with a huge caption reading: "Ming finds his Zing" (James Gurling seems to have been ahead of them with that one). That gold standard of UK political commentary, Nick Robinson said the speech should "stop the mutterings - for now".
And there's the rub. We had all this after last year's autumn conference speech and after the Ealing/Southall and Sedgefield by-elections. A few weeks of calm, and then it all kicks off again. "Ming too old", "Young Turks vie for position" etc etc.
So why should this time be any different? Why, as the Michael White said this morning, have "tectonic plates shifted"?
For me, it's different because of the sheer comprehensiveness, passion and heart-stopping liberalism of his speech yesterday.
My earliest experience of live politics, as opposed to my grandfather swearing at Harold Wilson or Nasser whenever they came onto the telly, was when I was ten. During the 1970 general election campaign I was able to wonder a few hundred yards down from our house and stand and observe what, in those days, was an endangered species, a genuine Liberal MP. John Pardoe was his name. A big bear of a man with real charisma and passion. He used to stand on top of his landrover with his microphone and bellow out a stump speech. I can't remember what he said. If you asked me a few minutes after he had spoken what he had said, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell you much of what he said. But I knew one thing for sure. This man was "it". He was speaking the truth, he knew what needed to be done in the country, and he expressed it with such down-to-earth and gripping passion that I knew I was a Liberal like him.
Listening to Ming's speech yesterday was a similar experience. Ming is "it".
You just have to take his opening paragraph:
Let me start by asking some questions:
What kind of country is it where the government responds to the threat of climate change by allowing green taxes to fall as carbon emissions rise?
What kind of country is it where the richest in the land pay a lower rate of tax than the people who have to clean their offices?
What kind of country is it where the government halts a criminal investigation into corrupt arms sales to placate commercial interests?
What kind of country is it where the government colludes with the Tories to exempt MPs from freedom of information?
What kind of country is it where the government sneaks out a short statement on the last day of Parliament signing us up to host America’s Son of Star Wars on British soil?
And what kind of country is it where the government leads us into an illegal and disastrous war and then stops people from protesting against it?
Well, I’ll tell you what sort of country it’s not:
It’s not a liberal country.
Well, that's fired me up just on its own. What an awesome list of the wrongs of the past few years of Labour government! It is to the credit of the speechwriters that they stacked the speech with the full set of these sorts of points in a highly organised way. That opening is all the more arresting for the fact that all those six points are the type of thing that is all too easily forgotten in day-to-day media coverage. It demonstrates cutting-edge liberalism that Ming and his team collated that list, and the other points later in the speech.
Ming's scathing critiques of the other two leaders were brilliant. First on Cameron he was stunningly accurate as well as funny:
This year, David Cameron is going back to basics.
Last year the Conservative conference was about health, happiness and the sunshine glinting through the trees.
This year it will be flag, fear – and foreigners.
But why the right-turn?
I’ll tell you why.
Because he’s under pressure.
And without convictions of his own, the Tory leader is buffeted by the beliefs of others.
He’s done a u-turn on grammar schools.
An about turn on identity cards.
And a wrong-turn on human rights.
Margaret Thatcher would have to concede:
He turns if you want him to.
The laddie’s all for turning.
But we’re not for turning – we know exactly what we stand for.
But he was even more skillful in shooting that old fox, Gordon Brown:
Mr Brown is working hard to convince us that there has been real change in Number 10:
That his arrival has somehow wiped the slate clean.
That the last ten years of waste, failure and disappointment are to be forgiven and forgotten
Well, not so fast Gordon.
You spent a decade blaming everything on the previous Conservative government.
But as Chancellor over the last ten years you had unparalleled influence over government.
You could have raised green taxes to tackle climate change.
You could have stopped the ineffective, expensive and unnecessary identity card scheme.
And you could have prevented Tony Blair from embarking on the catastrophe of the Iraq war.
But you didn’t.
This is your legacy, Mr Brown:
The environment degraded.
Civil liberties eroded.
Iraq invaded.
Not to mention the record for which you - and you alone - were responsible as Chancellor.
A smash and grab raid on private pensions.
A steady, disturbing rise in the number of home repossessions.
And a national economic backdrop of £1.3 trillion in personal debt.
With a record like that it’s no wonder that the Prime Minister wants to start afresh.
But it’s a record for which we will ensure that he takes responsibility:
In spite of your claims of change, Mr Brown, not much really has changed.
New Labour remains blue Labour.
And you’re still wrong.
Wrong on nuclear energy.
Wrong on council tax.
Wrong on student fees.
And you are wrong, wrong, wrong on detention without charge.
We don’t need a change of tone in this country:
We need a change of policies.
And you, Gordon Brown, have not delivered.
I think we should all re-read that about once a week. To me, that is a main plank of a general election campaign.
There was one tricky patch in the speech, it should be said. When Ming mentioned the EU referendum he only got subdued applause. When he said: "We would ask the British people the real question – whether they wish to remain in the European Union or not. I will proudly lead the Liberal Democrats at the forefront of that debate." he received no applause at all, even though it sounded as though he wanted some, from the way he said it. Maybe conference were a bit miffed at being told 'he will lead' us in a referendum campaign on EU membership when it has not yet considered what that referendum should consist of, if it is to be any different (some might say) from our manifesto commitment.
But, apart from that, the speech went on as it began. A crie de coeur of liberalism. "A classic liberal speech", as Paddy called it. "Ming Emperor rallies his weary troops" as the Telegraph put it.
So Ming has put the party to bed - for now. He has sounded a "clarion call" (Nick Clegg) in advance of a potential election. But that's not enough.
It's all very well making me happy. It's all very well making most of the "troops" happy and fired up. 'Classic liberal speeches' fire us all up. But they don't necessarily fire the country up. I do believe that we have policies, such as the 16p basic rate of tax, which will sell themselves very well to the electorate. If every voter had a copy of Ming's speech and read it, then we'd be home and dry. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen, of course.
So we have the media issue - how do we get our message across (apart from the obvious Penhaligonesque method of putting it on a bit of paper and sticking it through a letter box)? Unlike David Nikel I am not angry at the likes of Nick Assinder, who wrote a typically petty piece on the conference on BBC Online. Like all journalists, Nick has to write something, and normally gets asked by his superior to write in a certain vein. It's no good getting angry with journalists. They have to put bread on the table at home. We are not going to change the media (except perhaps in a very small, incremental way). And they do us some favours - as we can see today's and yesterday's coverage of Ming's speech.
We have to work with the media rather than constantly belittling them.
Yes, it is a pain in the neck to have this constant "who will succeed Ming?" stuff. But look on the bright side. At least we have some obvious successors to Ming. Where are the obvious successors to David Cameron? There aren't any. Strangely enough, it is a credit to Ming that he has successors waiting. It is the job of any manager to ensure that there is a succession plan for him/herself. Ming has ensured that and has gone out of his way to foster his team of "young turks".
Showing posts with label Liberal Democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liberal Democrats. Show all posts
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Great speech from Ming
Quick reaction on the speech. Great. He pressed all the right buttons. A real liberal speech - outlined a real, distinctive position and made clear Brown/Cameron's appalling failings. There was a tricky patch when he mentioned the EU referendum. I think he was particularly strong with his devastating critique of Brown.
Ming's speech really could be offered as a summary to answer the question "what is a liberal?" as well as "what are the LibDems for?"
It was a brilliantly written , comprehensive speech. He showed real passion. I am not just saying that. He was shouting almost at some points and he looked really confident and energetic.
The full text of the speech is here.
Ming's speech really could be offered as a summary to answer the question "what is a liberal?" as well as "what are the LibDems for?"
It was a brilliantly written , comprehensive speech. He showed real passion. I am not just saying that. He was shouting almost at some points and he looked really confident and energetic.
The full text of the speech is here.
Ming's speech - Live blog
11.52 Tim Clement-Jones is "shaking the tin", bless him.
11.59 Dead Liberals are in the spotlight. Chris Rennard announces that John Stuart Mill has been voted the greatest Liberal in history. When you think about it, a bit of a no brainer. (But then again a no brainer surely needs no thinking about....I hate this waiting) Well done to the Millster.
12.06 Chris Rennard looks forward to his 50th LibDem/Liberal conference/assembly in his home city of Liverpool next March.
12.07 The Party Conference broadcast video is being played while the mass ranks move onto the stage to be the backdrop.
12.09 Warm applause for Ming's goal in the video.
12.10 Ming walks into the hall. Elspeth is wearing a plain white suit/coat. Very subdued for her.
12.12 Ming starts with some questions. Climate change response of Labour - green taxes fall. Richest pay lower tax rate than their office cleaners. Criminal investigation into arms sales stopped. Tories trying to exempt MPs from FOI. What kind of country? Government sneaks out "son of Star Wars" announcement on last day of parliament. Illegal disastrous war - stopping protests. What kind of country? Very passionate. It's not a liberal country. That's why LibDems have never been more necessary.
Brilliant start.
12.14 LibDems leading fight against climate change. Examples: Wales, Scotland. Recent green organisations audit where we came top. Policies: green taxes - vision for zero carbon Britain.
12.15 Media critics. Obsessed with Young Turks. (Married one!) I answer to you and not the media. Big applause.
12.16 Thank goodness we can confront difficult issues. Say controversial things. That's real leadership. That's my leadership. We're on the cutting edge of critical issues. "I won't have it any other way".
12.17 Hard choices. Labour. Gordon gets into power and the first thing he does is praises Maggie Thatcher. Maggie, Gordon, Tony, Dave, Ian, Michael....confused? You must be. But I don't want to be like any of them. Big cheer/applause.
12.18 Conservatives. Right turn. No convictions. Cameron buffeted. Grammar schools etc. Wrong turn on human rights.
12.20 He turns if you want him to. The lad is all for turning. Nice one. We're not for turning. Fit for purpose - radical, responsible, Liberal.
12.21 We'll be ready for election. Fight for every vote. To rattle cages.
12.22 Ealing Southall/Sedgefield - hard work -principal challengers to government. Tories pushed into third place. Applause. Mayor of London - three great candidates on shortlist. Sustained applause.
12.23 Boris Johnson. the blondest suicide note in history.
12.24 Age. I will make it an issue. Experience. Judgment. War decisions.
12.25 Tragic folly of Iran war. Ability to trust LibDems if Iran military action proposals from the US come.
12.26 Brown doesn't get off hook - he could have prevented Iraq war, ID cards, lack of green taxes - chancellor for 10 years
12.28 Brown's legacy - we see now. Personal debt. We will ensure he takes responsibility. New Labour remains Blue Labour. Wrong wrong wrong.
12.29 Don't just need change of tone - need change of policy and Brown hasn't delivered. Farmers. Must get farmers back in business asap. Collapse of trust in leading banks. Queues. Underlying of excessive debt/reckless lending has not been addressed - responsibility with Brown.
12.30 Conservatives not fit for purpose. No environment commitments. Agreed with war. Bucketful of policy proposals. Advice from the Vulcan - straight from the bridge of SS Free Enterprise - policies Dave, but not as we know them.
12.32 Tories still don't know what their policies would be. Suffering from identity crisis. Don't know whether to hug or hang hoodies.
12.33 Environment, taxes, Iraq etc - cosy consensus Labour Tory - we alone can break
12.34 That doesn't rule out co-operation. Steel, Ashdown and Kennedy were all proved right when they stood up to Labour/Tories.
12.35 When they try to shout me down - I would not be silenced. The LibDems will never be silenced (rendition, Guantanemo etc). That includes Europe. We must make case. Cameron wants to restrict us to narrow referendum - let's have an honest debate with a real choice. Applause (3 on clapometer). Tricky moment.
12.42 Freedom is indivisible. Racial/sexual/sexual orientation - I stand with those prejudiced against and so too do LibDems - strong applause - tricky moment over.
12.43 You can't be a part time liberal. Faith. Guarantee all religions accept tyranny of none.
Good phrase.
12.44 Listing people he has met. Homeless. Injured soldier. Powerful piece about price of war that should never have been.
12.44 too many forgotten people. Social exclusion. I'm angry. I'm deeply angry. Things have got to change if we want to be one truly united Britain. Big applause. Government must stand for interests of all but vested interests of none.
12.45 Change governance once and for all - throw open the doors of government and let the people in. No more secret arms deals full stop. Fair votes. End of lottery of FPSTP system. Real Freedom of information. Wholly elected house of Lords. Bill of rights. Put the protection of the environment at the heart of constitution - guarantee rights to clean water, air etc
12.46 Our challenge is to extend freedom to everyone. London. Deprivation. Gap between rich and poor is wider than when Labour came to office. Who'd have thought it? Big applause. Social mobility in decline - UK at bottom of UNICEF league table for child well being.
12.48 That's the record of Brown/Labour. Social housing queue. Pensioners struggling. People whose background change their prospects. Education. Proposal for extra money for children who are struggling. Where opportunity is denied, freedom is denied also.
12.50 William Beveridge. Challenges still there. Five giants. We should lead fight for five freedoms.
12.51 Confidence in the law and crime prevention at all time low. Brown increased taxes for less well off. We will close tax loopholes. Cut rate of income tax to lowest for century. Shift tax from income to pollution. Cuts for average families.
12.52 Clean environment. We will fight for the five freedoms. I will lead party into GE with energy, passion...liberalism has never been needed than it is today.
12.55 We alone can break cosy consensus. We only can make people free from fear, climate change. Only we will fight for free, fair and green society. We're not the real alternative - we're the ONLY alternative. Sustained applause.
12.56 Not two against one. But one against two. I joined to change country - that is what we can achieve together.
Lots of applause.
11.59 Dead Liberals are in the spotlight. Chris Rennard announces that John Stuart Mill has been voted the greatest Liberal in history. When you think about it, a bit of a no brainer. (But then again a no brainer surely needs no thinking about....I hate this waiting) Well done to the Millster.
12.06 Chris Rennard looks forward to his 50th LibDem/Liberal conference/assembly in his home city of Liverpool next March.
12.07 The Party Conference broadcast video is being played while the mass ranks move onto the stage to be the backdrop.
12.09 Warm applause for Ming's goal in the video.
12.10 Ming walks into the hall. Elspeth is wearing a plain white suit/coat. Very subdued for her.
12.12 Ming starts with some questions. Climate change response of Labour - green taxes fall. Richest pay lower tax rate than their office cleaners. Criminal investigation into arms sales stopped. Tories trying to exempt MPs from FOI. What kind of country? Government sneaks out "son of Star Wars" announcement on last day of parliament. Illegal disastrous war - stopping protests. What kind of country? Very passionate. It's not a liberal country. That's why LibDems have never been more necessary.
Brilliant start.
12.14 LibDems leading fight against climate change. Examples: Wales, Scotland. Recent green organisations audit where we came top. Policies: green taxes - vision for zero carbon Britain.
12.15 Media critics. Obsessed with Young Turks. (Married one!) I answer to you and not the media. Big applause.
12.16 Thank goodness we can confront difficult issues. Say controversial things. That's real leadership. That's my leadership. We're on the cutting edge of critical issues. "I won't have it any other way".
12.17 Hard choices. Labour. Gordon gets into power and the first thing he does is praises Maggie Thatcher. Maggie, Gordon, Tony, Dave, Ian, Michael....confused? You must be. But I don't want to be like any of them. Big cheer/applause.
12.18 Conservatives. Right turn. No convictions. Cameron buffeted. Grammar schools etc. Wrong turn on human rights.
12.20 He turns if you want him to. The lad is all for turning. Nice one. We're not for turning. Fit for purpose - radical, responsible, Liberal.
12.21 We'll be ready for election. Fight for every vote. To rattle cages.
12.22 Ealing Southall/Sedgefield - hard work -principal challengers to government. Tories pushed into third place. Applause. Mayor of London - three great candidates on shortlist. Sustained applause.
12.23 Boris Johnson. the blondest suicide note in history.
12.24 Age. I will make it an issue. Experience. Judgment. War decisions.
12.25 Tragic folly of Iran war. Ability to trust LibDems if Iran military action proposals from the US come.
12.26 Brown doesn't get off hook - he could have prevented Iraq war, ID cards, lack of green taxes - chancellor for 10 years
12.28 Brown's legacy - we see now. Personal debt. We will ensure he takes responsibility. New Labour remains Blue Labour. Wrong wrong wrong.
12.29 Don't just need change of tone - need change of policy and Brown hasn't delivered. Farmers. Must get farmers back in business asap. Collapse of trust in leading banks. Queues. Underlying of excessive debt/reckless lending has not been addressed - responsibility with Brown.
12.30 Conservatives not fit for purpose. No environment commitments. Agreed with war. Bucketful of policy proposals. Advice from the Vulcan - straight from the bridge of SS Free Enterprise - policies Dave, but not as we know them.
12.32 Tories still don't know what their policies would be. Suffering from identity crisis. Don't know whether to hug or hang hoodies.
12.33 Environment, taxes, Iraq etc - cosy consensus Labour Tory - we alone can break
12.34 That doesn't rule out co-operation. Steel, Ashdown and Kennedy were all proved right when they stood up to Labour/Tories.
12.35 When they try to shout me down - I would not be silenced. The LibDems will never be silenced (rendition, Guantanemo etc). That includes Europe. We must make case. Cameron wants to restrict us to narrow referendum - let's have an honest debate with a real choice. Applause (3 on clapometer). Tricky moment.
12.42 Freedom is indivisible. Racial/sexual/sexual orientation - I stand with those prejudiced against and so too do LibDems - strong applause - tricky moment over.
12.43 You can't be a part time liberal. Faith. Guarantee all religions accept tyranny of none.
Good phrase.
12.44 Listing people he has met. Homeless. Injured soldier. Powerful piece about price of war that should never have been.
12.44 too many forgotten people. Social exclusion. I'm angry. I'm deeply angry. Things have got to change if we want to be one truly united Britain. Big applause. Government must stand for interests of all but vested interests of none.
12.45 Change governance once and for all - throw open the doors of government and let the people in. No more secret arms deals full stop. Fair votes. End of lottery of FPSTP system. Real Freedom of information. Wholly elected house of Lords. Bill of rights. Put the protection of the environment at the heart of constitution - guarantee rights to clean water, air etc
12.46 Our challenge is to extend freedom to everyone. London. Deprivation. Gap between rich and poor is wider than when Labour came to office. Who'd have thought it? Big applause. Social mobility in decline - UK at bottom of UNICEF league table for child well being.
12.48 That's the record of Brown/Labour. Social housing queue. Pensioners struggling. People whose background change their prospects. Education. Proposal for extra money for children who are struggling. Where opportunity is denied, freedom is denied also.
12.50 William Beveridge. Challenges still there. Five giants. We should lead fight for five freedoms.
12.51 Confidence in the law and crime prevention at all time low. Brown increased taxes for less well off. We will close tax loopholes. Cut rate of income tax to lowest for century. Shift tax from income to pollution. Cuts for average families.
12.52 Clean environment. We will fight for the five freedoms. I will lead party into GE with energy, passion...liberalism has never been needed than it is today.
12.55 We alone can break cosy consensus. We only can make people free from fear, climate change. Only we will fight for free, fair and green society. We're not the real alternative - we're the ONLY alternative. Sustained applause.
12.56 Not two against one. But one against two. I joined to change country - that is what we can achieve together.
Lots of applause.
Ming: 'It's not two on one now, it's one on two'
That was a phrase that Ming repeated several times at the interview last Sunday with the LibDem Blogger of year shortlisters.
It's not two on one, now. It's one on two.
What he means is that instead of the two non-governmental parties opposing the government, we now have just one of the non-governmental parties, the LibDems, opposing both Labour and the Conservatives - what he is calling the "cosy consensus", in his speech this morning.
It is a powerful point. Rather than list off those policies on which Labour and the Tories have agreed on in the last ten years (there are too many), it is easier to list the policies on which they have disagreed.
In the early days, they disagreed on the Minimum Wage. The preponderance of each party's MPs, in a free vote, have disagreed on Hunting with hounds. There have been differences of tone on Europe and immigration - but nothing substantive. On most issues, both parties have fallen in with the other in a game of "Anything you can do, we can do better". A sort of Daily Mail reader bidding war.
So Ming's "It's one on two" and "cosy consensus" phrases are actually a clever distillation of the UK political picture which highlights the injustice of a system which is erring more and more towards what used to be, and perhaps still is, called the "right wing". That's a situation brought sharply into focus with Gordon Brown's cosying up to Margaret Thatcher and subsequent comparisons to George Orwell's Animal Farm:
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig...but already it was too late to say which was which.
As an aside, Ming developed his "one on two" leitmotif in the Sunday interview, saying that "it's one against one - LibDem against Labour in the North and one against one - LibDem against Conservative in the South". He then attempted a further bit of juggling with basic maths but stumbled a bit and got a bit tangled up. He reminded me of a slightly discombobulated Ted Rodgers on the telly programme 3-2-1 (below) when he used to do a little trick with his hand to put up three, then two, then one finger in a very fast sequence. Most of the audience of 3-2-1 were left utterly baffled by the programme, but I have high hopes that this "cosy consensus" and "one against two" theme will be better understood by the public. It might even pass as a rallying call for the LibDems, if we are allowed rallying calls. I suspect we'll have to receive a couple of shots of mogodon to calm us down.
It's not two on one, now. It's one on two.
What he means is that instead of the two non-governmental parties opposing the government, we now have just one of the non-governmental parties, the LibDems, opposing both Labour and the Conservatives - what he is calling the "cosy consensus", in his speech this morning.
It is a powerful point. Rather than list off those policies on which Labour and the Tories have agreed on in the last ten years (there are too many), it is easier to list the policies on which they have disagreed.
In the early days, they disagreed on the Minimum Wage. The preponderance of each party's MPs, in a free vote, have disagreed on Hunting with hounds. There have been differences of tone on Europe and immigration - but nothing substantive. On most issues, both parties have fallen in with the other in a game of "Anything you can do, we can do better". A sort of Daily Mail reader bidding war.
So Ming's "It's one on two" and "cosy consensus" phrases are actually a clever distillation of the UK political picture which highlights the injustice of a system which is erring more and more towards what used to be, and perhaps still is, called the "right wing". That's a situation brought sharply into focus with Gordon Brown's cosying up to Margaret Thatcher and subsequent comparisons to George Orwell's Animal Farm:
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig...but already it was too late to say which was which.
As an aside, Ming developed his "one on two" leitmotif in the Sunday interview, saying that "it's one against one - LibDem against Labour in the North and one against one - LibDem against Conservative in the South". He then attempted a further bit of juggling with basic maths but stumbled a bit and got a bit tangled up. He reminded me of a slightly discombobulated Ted Rodgers on the telly programme 3-2-1 (below) when he used to do a little trick with his hand to put up three, then two, then one finger in a very fast sequence. Most of the audience of 3-2-1 were left utterly baffled by the programme, but I have high hopes that this "cosy consensus" and "one against two" theme will be better understood by the public. It might even pass as a rallying call for the LibDems, if we are allowed rallying calls. I suspect we'll have to receive a couple of shots of mogodon to calm us down.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
What more does Ming have to do? Streak?
We had a Party Conference Broadcast this evening. The title was "Environment Action Now". It had a straight-forward narrative involving the floods in July. Ming appeared against that backdrop. He was in "animated mode". I know, the electrodes had been applied. Ha Ha. But I did find his words and body language reasonably arresting. What more does he have to do? Streak?
It was a nice touch to see Ming playing football with his gandsons at the end. You can watch the broadcast below this post.
Later on the Six O'Clock News, Nick Robinson put viewers' questions to Ming.
Nick started by reading an email question: "Ming Campbell's clearly a smart chap, can he not see that the country will not back a leader they feel sorry for?"
Ming appeared very assured and answered robustly that he had an agenda to take on Climate change, implement a fair tax policy, and improve citizens' rights, which have been whittled away by this government.
Nick said that a party colleague had described him (Ming) as a victim of "barely disguised ageism".
Ming replied that people are concerned about performance, judgement, fairness and experience.
Nick said "You used word "fair" - is it fair to increase the taxes of people earning a combined household income of £67,000?"
Ming answered that the UK average income is £24-25,000 so that people earning £70,000 are on 2.5 times average - "shouldn't they be asked to pay a little more? - If you are going to benefit 90% of the people you can't do it with smoke and mirrors"
Nick ended by asking if Ming faced a big challenge tomorrow.
Ming said that he intended to send LibDems home with a spring in their step and that he offered policies to change the face of Britain.
There's more here.
It was a nice touch to see Ming playing football with his gandsons at the end. You can watch the broadcast below this post.
Later on the Six O'Clock News, Nick Robinson put viewers' questions to Ming.
Nick started by reading an email question: "Ming Campbell's clearly a smart chap, can he not see that the country will not back a leader they feel sorry for?"
Ming appeared very assured and answered robustly that he had an agenda to take on Climate change, implement a fair tax policy, and improve citizens' rights, which have been whittled away by this government.
Nick said that a party colleague had described him (Ming) as a victim of "barely disguised ageism".
Ming replied that people are concerned about performance, judgement, fairness and experience.
Nick said "You used word "fair" - is it fair to increase the taxes of people earning a combined household income of £67,000?"
Ming answered that the UK average income is £24-25,000 so that people earning £70,000 are on 2.5 times average - "shouldn't they be asked to pay a little more? - If you are going to benefit 90% of the people you can't do it with smoke and mirrors"
Nick ended by asking if Ming faced a big challenge tomorrow.
Ming said that he intended to send LibDems home with a spring in their step and that he offered policies to change the face of Britain.
There's more here.
163 families would not now be grieving if there had been more people like Ming in the Cabinet
I did a quick cut and paste last night about the ICM poll showing Cameron behind Ming and Brown in the popularity stakes. Yes! Ming is more popular than Cameron. So stick that in your pipe, oh detractors, and smoke it!
James quite rightly says that it is the Tories who should now be tearing themselves apart.
Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian concludes that Cameron has not stayed the course of "modernisation" as Blair did for years:
...if Cameron thinks he's done enough modernising so that he can now soothe the Tory heartlands with the old songs on Europe and immigration, he's wrong. To win, he has to be able to hold a line long after the political classes, and especially his own party, have become bored rigid by it.
I have moved on from being bored rigid by the continual "Ming faltering line". The media are just pathetic. First, we got the Guardian blowing a quip totally out of proportion. Then this morning Radio Four majored on "Nick Clegg ready to takeover" or some such of nonsense. It turns out Nick Clegg had a woolly suggestion that he might stand for the leadership if and when there is a vacancy (couched around support for Ming and an attack on his detractors) reluctantly squeezed out of him (I think he had a soft part of his anatomy placed roughly between two bricks) at a fringe meeting which was not even recorded.
Pathetic.
So boredom is now being replaced by mild anger, on my part. Anger at the ridiculous, pathetic media pack mentality. I live in hope that Ming will be described as 'Lazarus rising from the dead' after his speech tomorrow. It would be par for the course.
And I have to admit I am still working up to being livid at the smug idiots who make sneering remarks about Ming's age. Humour I can handle. But not the unhumourous, sneering remarks.
Ming is fitter than many men, indeed journalists, half his age. He is mentally agile. He is a life-long liberal. He is wise and authoratitive and he was given the job by an overwhelming majority of the party membership.
To constantly snipe at his age is utterly disgraceful. It is pure, bigotted prejudice. As Ming quite rightly says, if there had been more people his age in Blair's cabinet, we would not have gone to war in Iraq and 163 British families would not now be mourning the loss of a son or daughter. (Imagine 163 crying families sat in front of you.)
Of course, to the smug self-satisfied people who sneer about Ming's age, that is a secondary consideration to making lazy jibes.
James quite rightly says that it is the Tories who should now be tearing themselves apart.
Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian concludes that Cameron has not stayed the course of "modernisation" as Blair did for years:
...if Cameron thinks he's done enough modernising so that he can now soothe the Tory heartlands with the old songs on Europe and immigration, he's wrong. To win, he has to be able to hold a line long after the political classes, and especially his own party, have become bored rigid by it.
I have moved on from being bored rigid by the continual "Ming faltering line". The media are just pathetic. First, we got the Guardian blowing a quip totally out of proportion. Then this morning Radio Four majored on "Nick Clegg ready to takeover" or some such of nonsense. It turns out Nick Clegg had a woolly suggestion that he might stand for the leadership if and when there is a vacancy (couched around support for Ming and an attack on his detractors) reluctantly squeezed out of him (I think he had a soft part of his anatomy placed roughly between two bricks) at a fringe meeting which was not even recorded.
Pathetic.
So boredom is now being replaced by mild anger, on my part. Anger at the ridiculous, pathetic media pack mentality. I live in hope that Ming will be described as 'Lazarus rising from the dead' after his speech tomorrow. It would be par for the course.
And I have to admit I am still working up to being livid at the smug idiots who make sneering remarks about Ming's age. Humour I can handle. But not the unhumourous, sneering remarks.
Ming is fitter than many men, indeed journalists, half his age. He is mentally agile. He is a life-long liberal. He is wise and authoratitive and he was given the job by an overwhelming majority of the party membership.
To constantly snipe at his age is utterly disgraceful. It is pure, bigotted prejudice. As Ming quite rightly says, if there had been more people his age in Blair's cabinet, we would not have gone to war in Iraq and 163 British families would not now be mourning the loss of a son or daughter. (Imagine 163 crying families sat in front of you.)
Of course, to the smug self-satisfied people who sneer about Ming's age, that is a secondary consideration to making lazy jibes.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Ming's position on the EU referendum is not the party's position
That was the main nugget I took from the meeting with Ming on Sunday, when the shortlisters for the "LibDem blogger of the year" award interviewed him.
Alex Wilcock, drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of the party's labyrinthine policy procedures, pointed out that the party, as we spoke, was having a consultative session on Europe including:
13. In either case, would a referendum as part of the ratification process (of the constiutional treaty) be (a)appropriate or (b) unnecessary?
Why, Alex asked (and I paraphrase) has Ming been pontificating on this subject before the party has deliberated on it?
Ming robustly answered that if you are leader of the party and you are asked a question by Paxo, the Humpster or Naughtie-boy you can't just say "I don't know - I am waiting to be told what to say by the Consultative whatsit of the party" (again I am paraphrasing).
Fair point (but as Fluffy has pointed out, it is a good idea to make sure this is clearly pointed out in these situations).
Ming then repeated the argument against a referendum on the current EU treaty under discussion, and for a plebiscite on the whole issue of the UK's membership of the EU. He finished by saying with great aplomb:
That is my own position.
That prompted me to ask (sneakily - as Mark Webster was trying to wind things up):
You say that's "your own position" - so it's not the party's position then?
"The party have yet to vote on the matter" (meaning - no it's not the party's position) was Ming's response before repeating that, as leader, he has the right, indeed sometimes it is beholden on him, to express his own view.
So that's it then. All this referendum stuff is Ming's view - not the party's view. Anyone got any sellotape to reform the odd membership card?
However, I am curious as to how long this issue will meander on before there is a proper vote by the party. The consultative process on Europe is targeted to produce a document for the autumn conference next year. I would have thought the next spring conference is the only time we could take a vote on this issue. But it would have to be some sort of shoe-horned-in item on the agenda, I would have thought. One for the conference committee.
One other small point about the interview (apart from the fact that my brownie point reservoir at home is now on "full" due to my nearest and dearests witnessing the Mingster interview with great excitement) is that Ming swore - if "bloody" is a swear word, that is.
He spoke about the grammar schools issue which, for the Conservatives he said, was the "keystone in the bridge", adding:
Pull that out and the whole bloody thing falls apart
Alex Wilcock, drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of the party's labyrinthine policy procedures, pointed out that the party, as we spoke, was having a consultative session on Europe including:
13. In either case, would a referendum as part of the ratification process (of the constiutional treaty) be (a)appropriate or (b) unnecessary?
Why, Alex asked (and I paraphrase) has Ming been pontificating on this subject before the party has deliberated on it?
Ming robustly answered that if you are leader of the party and you are asked a question by Paxo, the Humpster or Naughtie-boy you can't just say "I don't know - I am waiting to be told what to say by the Consultative whatsit of the party" (again I am paraphrasing).
Fair point (but as Fluffy has pointed out, it is a good idea to make sure this is clearly pointed out in these situations).
Ming then repeated the argument against a referendum on the current EU treaty under discussion, and for a plebiscite on the whole issue of the UK's membership of the EU. He finished by saying with great aplomb:
That is my own position.
That prompted me to ask (sneakily - as Mark Webster was trying to wind things up):
You say that's "your own position" - so it's not the party's position then?
"The party have yet to vote on the matter" (meaning - no it's not the party's position) was Ming's response before repeating that, as leader, he has the right, indeed sometimes it is beholden on him, to express his own view.
So that's it then. All this referendum stuff is Ming's view - not the party's view. Anyone got any sellotape to reform the odd membership card?
However, I am curious as to how long this issue will meander on before there is a proper vote by the party. The consultative process on Europe is targeted to produce a document for the autumn conference next year. I would have thought the next spring conference is the only time we could take a vote on this issue. But it would have to be some sort of shoe-horned-in item on the agenda, I would have thought. One for the conference committee.
One other small point about the interview (apart from the fact that my brownie point reservoir at home is now on "full" due to my nearest and dearests witnessing the Mingster interview with great excitement) is that Ming swore - if "bloody" is a swear word, that is.
He spoke about the grammar schools issue which, for the Conservatives he said, was the "keystone in the bridge", adding:
Pull that out and the whole bloody thing falls apart
Ming: We speak for the hard-up
Great news: Our leader fluently explained out tax policies on live radio at 7.50am!
It can be done. It is worth listening to the interview with Carolyn Quinn on Radio Four's Today if you missed it. If you go to their web page, just click on "7.50" under "Today's Top Stories" and you can listen to it.
I thought Ming responded particularly well to pressure from Carolyn Quinn about the impact of our policies on those earning over £68,000 (the top 10%), by retorting:
"What about those on lower incomes, those struggling to make ends meet, who speaks for them? We speak for them".
Well done Ming! - have an extra bacon rasher as a reward.
It can be done. It is worth listening to the interview with Carolyn Quinn on Radio Four's Today if you missed it. If you go to their web page, just click on "7.50" under "Today's Top Stories" and you can listen to it.
I thought Ming responded particularly well to pressure from Carolyn Quinn about the impact of our policies on those earning over £68,000 (the top 10%), by retorting:
"What about those on lower incomes, those struggling to make ends meet, who speaks for them? We speak for them".
Well done Ming! - have an extra bacon rasher as a reward.
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Guardian wet themselves
The Lib Dem chief was centre stage doing a question-and-answer session with comedian Sandi Toksvig when the topic turned to prime minister's question time.
Sir Menzies protested that everyone gets nervous before such events. Sandi disagreed.
"Well, I must be a failure then," Sir Menzies retorted.
This has caused the Guardian and other organs to require a clean set of underwear, they are so excited.
Ahem. Any decent actor will tell you that the day you don't get nervous before going on stage is the day that you die on stage.
Of course, Sandi Toksvig doesn't get nervous before she goes "live". She is a daily broadcaster and basically opens a microphone and chirrups. "Rolling rowlocks" is the nautical expression to describe such broadcasting.
I realise that all the journos are looking for a noose to hang Ming with, but this isn't it.
PS. The Times has a different report of the conversation saying that Tosvig agreed that people get nervous before performances but added that Ming didn't make her feel nervous to which Ming replied "Well of course - I am a failure". Surely if the papers are going to have communual hysteria about a remark they ought to agree on what was actually said should they not?
UPDATE: It appeares The Times version was more accurate than the Guardian version quoted. I apologise to Ms Toksvig as it seems she does get nervous after all, as any pro does. I withdraw my "rolling rowlocks" allegation.
Sir Menzies protested that everyone gets nervous before such events. Sandi disagreed.
"Well, I must be a failure then," Sir Menzies retorted.
This has caused the Guardian and other organs to require a clean set of underwear, they are so excited.
Ahem. Any decent actor will tell you that the day you don't get nervous before going on stage is the day that you die on stage.
Of course, Sandi Toksvig doesn't get nervous before she goes "live". She is a daily broadcaster and basically opens a microphone and chirrups. "Rolling rowlocks" is the nautical expression to describe such broadcasting.
I realise that all the journos are looking for a noose to hang Ming with, but this isn't it.
PS. The Times has a different report of the conversation saying that Tosvig agreed that people get nervous before performances but added that Ming didn't make her feel nervous to which Ming replied "Well of course - I am a failure". Surely if the papers are going to have communual hysteria about a remark they ought to agree on what was actually said should they not?
UPDATE: It appeares The Times version was more accurate than the Guardian version quoted. I apologise to Ms Toksvig as it seems she does get nervous after all, as any pro does. I withdraw my "rolling rowlocks" allegation.
Ming v Bloggers - photos
Here are some photos from yesterday's interview of Ming by the five bloggers short-listed for "LibDem blog of the year".
Ming meets Lib Dem Blogger of year, James Graham.
From left: Ming, Jonathan Calder (back of), Mark Webster (moderator - obscured), James Graham.
The back of Alex Wilcock's head is an addition to the previous photo.
Ming meets Lib Dem Blogger of year, James Graham.
From left: Ming, Jonathan Calder (back of), Mark Webster (moderator - obscured), James Graham.
The back of Alex Wilcock's head is an addition to the previous photo.
The joys of conference kleptomania!
Accompanied by the the leading lights of West Berkshire Kleptomaniacs Anonymous, I toured the exhibition stands at the conference yesterday.
The TUC wins the prize for best freebies. It is so good that my recovering kleptomaniac friends returned to the stand several times. If you ask them (those lovely TUC bods) nicely (and by the way, one of my friends is a fully paid-up member of Unison, so she had an excuse) they give you a most fantastic piece of kit which is a bit like Dr Who's Sonic screwdriver:
-It's a pen
-It's an eraser
-It's a torch
-It's an infra-red thingamejig for pointing at presentation slides
-It's a stick for your PDA
In the interests of product performance checking, I tried out the infra-red pointy thing during Sarah Teather's main hall session on adult learning. From my seat at the back of the hall I managed to get the little red spot to appear on the back of someone standing mid-way between the front seats and the speech card desk. An impressive range, I think you'll agree. It works better on people with white or light shirts on than on people with dark shirts on.
The TUC also have a devilish device which is a combined sellotape dispenser/stapler and label maker. There are also a range of memory sticks etc.
So, well done TUC, you receive the seal of approval from Kleptomaniacs Anonymous.
The award for "Best fun stall but....er.....what the heck does this have to do with your campaign?" goes to ATL, the education union, with their superb Wii virtual skittle alley. Terrific fun. I think I can just about see the connection to learning skills. Well done for giving us some great entertainment ATL!
The TUC wins the prize for best freebies. It is so good that my recovering kleptomaniac friends returned to the stand several times. If you ask them (those lovely TUC bods) nicely (and by the way, one of my friends is a fully paid-up member of Unison, so she had an excuse) they give you a most fantastic piece of kit which is a bit like Dr Who's Sonic screwdriver:
-It's a pen
-It's an eraser
-It's a torch
-It's an infra-red thingamejig for pointing at presentation slides
-It's a stick for your PDA
In the interests of product performance checking, I tried out the infra-red pointy thing during Sarah Teather's main hall session on adult learning. From my seat at the back of the hall I managed to get the little red spot to appear on the back of someone standing mid-way between the front seats and the speech card desk. An impressive range, I think you'll agree. It works better on people with white or light shirts on than on people with dark shirts on.
The TUC also have a devilish device which is a combined sellotape dispenser/stapler and label maker. There are also a range of memory sticks etc.
So, well done TUC, you receive the seal of approval from Kleptomaniacs Anonymous.
The award for "Best fun stall but....er.....what the heck does this have to do with your campaign?" goes to ATL, the education union, with their superb Wii virtual skittle alley. Terrific fun. I think I can just about see the connection to learning skills. Well done for giving us some great entertainment ATL!
Jonny leaves no dry eyes
Jonny Wright makes his acceptance speechafter receiving the "Newcomer of the year"
award at last night's LibDem Blog awards
Many congratulations to Quaequam Blog (pronounced "James Graham") for winning the LibDem "Blogger of the Year" award. James has been consistently fair but incisive with his commentary. His posts have been perfectly written and argued, and based on an awesome knowledge and command of political theory and practice, so his award is very well deserved.
It was a special delight to see Mary Reid accepting a couple of awards last night, not least the "Phew! Thank the Lord that we can now prove that the LibDem Blogosphere is not a Blokesphere - well not completely" Award.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Talk of LibDem target seats
According to the Independent, the LibDems are pouring money into North Wiltshire, as a top possibility for a seat gain at the next election (the Tory MP there had an affair while his wife had cancer.)
The internal paper quoted also mentions these seats as needing to be prioritised: St Albans, Wells, Mid Sussex and Broadland.
Ed Davey also tells Ming and the front bench that "hyperactivity is needed".
The internal paper quoted also mentions these seats as needing to be prioritised: St Albans, Wells, Mid Sussex and Broadland.
Ed Davey also tells Ming and the front bench that "hyperactivity is needed".
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Huhne: We're hiding out light under a bushel
Mr Huhne is very busy at the moment. In the Sunday Telegraph he says:
As a party we need to be more ambitious. We are every bit as capable of running an effective government as the Tories or Labour. We should not be hiding our light under a bushel. We should be going out there to say we are ready and want to put Liberal principles into practice.
As a party we need to be more ambitious. We are every bit as capable of running an effective government as the Tories or Labour. We should not be hiding our light under a bushel. We should be going out there to say we are ready and want to put Liberal principles into practice.
Conference challenge for Ming
Conference is a bit of a tough challenge for Ming. We've got Lord Rodgers (remember him? - nice old cove) talking about "lack of energy and absence of direction"
The BBC say:
The BBC say:
One poll of 130 Liberal Democrat constituency association chairmen found that nearly a third were not convinced Sir Menzies was doing well.
However, when you look at the detail it is not exactly a "slam dunk" finding. 9 chairs out of 90 contacted said they did not support Ming. So 90% were either satisfied, unsure or didn't answer. Mind you, five refused to answer. So you could say they didn't support him, so that's 14 out of 90. Not exactly convincing.
Of the 90 who responded to BBC Radio 4's World This Weekend, 61 said they were satisfied he was leading them in the right direction, 15 were unsure and nine did not support him. The remainder refused to answer.
Chris Huhne attacks Williams, Lester, Neuberger and Taylor
An interesting turn of events in today's Times.
Chris Huhne risks opening divisions in the Liberal Democrats today by attacking colleagues who accepted jobs advising Gordon Brown.
The former leadership contender and environment spokesman dismisses the four Lib Dems who have agreed to work with Mr Brown as “no longer at the cutting edge”.
Speaking on the eve of the party’s annual conference, Mr Huhne urges them to reconsider their roles and suggests that their efforts will no longer be taken seriously by Mr Brown.
I thought that had all been quietly buried. I tend to agree with Huhne but it seems a strange time to dig all this up again. There may be a smidgen of positioning going on here!Any questions for Ming?
With the other shortlisted "LibDem bloggers of the year", I have been invited to "interview" Ming tomorrow morning as my "prize" for being on the shortlist.
I am somewhat nervous about being in such a cloistered occasion - I would prefer an "online" open questions forum to be held with Ming. Presumably there will be an open "Q and A" with Ming at the conference. I hope so.
And having five people questioning Ming for only half an hour is hardly likely to be a challenging format - as we saw with Newsnight's questioning of Cameron by five journalists. Mind you, given the likes of James, Jonathan, Alex and Richard, I can imagine they will manage to make it challenging and I can just sit back and enjoy it!
But anyway, the attractive high spot of "Daddy" (yes, I get called that as well) sitting in the same room as Ming has enticed my family to come along for a bit of a family away day in Brighton tomorrow.
I suspect that the questioning on Ming will major on the referendum matter and I intended to ask at least one (I suspect I'll only get one) question on domestic matters.
Any ideas for questions?
I am somewhat nervous about being in such a cloistered occasion - I would prefer an "online" open questions forum to be held with Ming. Presumably there will be an open "Q and A" with Ming at the conference. I hope so.
And having five people questioning Ming for only half an hour is hardly likely to be a challenging format - as we saw with Newsnight's questioning of Cameron by five journalists. Mind you, given the likes of James, Jonathan, Alex and Richard, I can imagine they will manage to make it challenging and I can just sit back and enjoy it!
But anyway, the attractive high spot of "Daddy" (yes, I get called that as well) sitting in the same room as Ming has enticed my family to come along for a bit of a family away day in Brighton tomorrow.
I suspect that the questioning on Ming will major on the referendum matter and I intended to ask at least one (I suspect I'll only get one) question on domestic matters.
Any ideas for questions?
I was wrong
I'll confess.
My first instinct is to defend Ming and be loyal to him. It's terrible I know, and goodness knows what I am doing in the blogging community with that instinct. I should be writing his press releases, I know. (No - correct that - Stephen Tall should be writing his press releases).
I have just come back from a family funeral. It was for my Godmother, who was a beautiful lady - inside and out. It is marvellous how funerals throw things into proportion.
Having reflected and read the comments of the Norfolk Blogger on a couple of my posts about Ming and the EU Treaty, I now realise that I was overly kind to Ming on Wednesday. On reflection I tend towards the Stephen Tall camp. Ming made a pig's ear of the original announcement on Wednesday.
I still contend that the Treaty itself doesn't need a referendum if taken in isolation from our 2005 manifesto commitment. I just think Ming handled the original thing so badly that he left the whole party's reputation hanging on the rather fragile, and fiendishly difficult to argue, contention that the "constitution" we promised a referendum on in our 2005 manifesto was completely different from the "treaty" now on offer.
So it is a relief to read the Friday clarification from Ming. I think we can move on now - just.
It is ludicrous to have a referendum with the question purely on a revising treaty. It would be a proxy question, used by UKIP/Cameron to ask people if they want to withdraw from the EU. The formal answer to the referendum would be a stonking "no - we don't want the treaty" and this would be interpreted as meaning "we want to withdraw from Europe". So the only honest referendum is the one Ming is proposing on the whole EU constitution. I do not agree with Jonathan Calder that this would be a re-run of the 1975 referendum, because of the all the intervening treaties. The 1975 referendum was on membership of the "Common Market", not the "European Union".
And I do think a referendum is necessary given all the succeeding treaties.
Again, on reflection, I am very concerned about the way this has been done and I hope Ming has learnt his lesson. I am not sure what "soundings" he took before his Wednesday declaration, but whatever they were, they weren't very good. A decision of that magnitude should be taken without some sort of vote of the the party, whether it be the parliamentary party or the full conference or the Fedex or whatever. But then again, we elect leaders to lead and at least he was showing some leadership, but it did it in a disastrous way.
I still think Ming needs to repeat his explanation of the difference between his current position and our 2005 manifesto commitment.
Lest we forget, even Paddy was wont to have the odd "I lead you follow" moment which infuriated the party. I remember when I was Newbury constituency party president or chair (forget which) when I had to almost use water cannon to quell the indignation of the local LibDem troops at some "getting into bed with Tony Blair" moment which Paddy had towards the end of his leadership.
By the way, Andy has written very well of the advantageous political tactical side to this, which I alluded to in one of my posts.
My first instinct is to defend Ming and be loyal to him. It's terrible I know, and goodness knows what I am doing in the blogging community with that instinct. I should be writing his press releases, I know. (No - correct that - Stephen Tall should be writing his press releases).
I have just come back from a family funeral. It was for my Godmother, who was a beautiful lady - inside and out. It is marvellous how funerals throw things into proportion.
Having reflected and read the comments of the Norfolk Blogger on a couple of my posts about Ming and the EU Treaty, I now realise that I was overly kind to Ming on Wednesday. On reflection I tend towards the Stephen Tall camp. Ming made a pig's ear of the original announcement on Wednesday.
I still contend that the Treaty itself doesn't need a referendum if taken in isolation from our 2005 manifesto commitment. I just think Ming handled the original thing so badly that he left the whole party's reputation hanging on the rather fragile, and fiendishly difficult to argue, contention that the "constitution" we promised a referendum on in our 2005 manifesto was completely different from the "treaty" now on offer.
So it is a relief to read the Friday clarification from Ming. I think we can move on now - just.
It is ludicrous to have a referendum with the question purely on a revising treaty. It would be a proxy question, used by UKIP/Cameron to ask people if they want to withdraw from the EU. The formal answer to the referendum would be a stonking "no - we don't want the treaty" and this would be interpreted as meaning "we want to withdraw from Europe". So the only honest referendum is the one Ming is proposing on the whole EU constitution. I do not agree with Jonathan Calder that this would be a re-run of the 1975 referendum, because of the all the intervening treaties. The 1975 referendum was on membership of the "Common Market", not the "European Union".
And I do think a referendum is necessary given all the succeeding treaties.
Again, on reflection, I am very concerned about the way this has been done and I hope Ming has learnt his lesson. I am not sure what "soundings" he took before his Wednesday declaration, but whatever they were, they weren't very good. A decision of that magnitude should be taken without some sort of vote of the the party, whether it be the parliamentary party or the full conference or the Fedex or whatever. But then again, we elect leaders to lead and at least he was showing some leadership, but it did it in a disastrous way.
I still think Ming needs to repeat his explanation of the difference between his current position and our 2005 manifesto commitment.
Lest we forget, even Paddy was wont to have the odd "I lead you follow" moment which infuriated the party. I remember when I was Newbury constituency party president or chair (forget which) when I had to almost use water cannon to quell the indignation of the local LibDem troops at some "getting into bed with Tony Blair" moment which Paddy had towards the end of his leadership.
By the way, Andy has written very well of the advantageous political tactical side to this, which I alluded to in one of my posts.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
LibDems come top in "green audit"
It is not surprising really.
The Tories have emitted quite a lot of hot air on green issues (shoe chauffeurs, Husky photo-ops etc) but it is very difficult to find a commitment amongst their verbiage.
Labour seem to have presided over a reduction in "green taxation".
So this is confirming what we know anyway, but it is very timely and gratifying to have all the main green bodies confirming that the LibDems have the greenest policies. But all the parties need to do more.
The organisations who sponsored/wrote the report were:
Camaron, Friends of the Earth, Green Alliance, Greenpeace, the National Trust, the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts, the Woodland Trust and WWF-UK.
The Tories have emitted quite a lot of hot air on green issues (shoe chauffeurs, Husky photo-ops etc) but it is very difficult to find a commitment amongst their verbiage.
Labour seem to have presided over a reduction in "green taxation".
So this is confirming what we know anyway, but it is very timely and gratifying to have all the main green bodies confirming that the LibDems have the greenest policies. But all the parties need to do more.
The organisations who sponsored/wrote the report were:
Camaron, Friends of the Earth, Green Alliance, Greenpeace, the National Trust, the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts, the Woodland Trust and WWF-UK.
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